


Together, Apart

by Zelan_s



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27563302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelan_s/pseuds/Zelan_s
Summary: The first time you meet someone, you make eye contact. You smile, say hello. Should be simple, if you're anyone but me. The first time I met Alex Luna, I found myself making eye contact with a different part of his body. You see, I'm very good at being shy, not to mention extremely well-versed in rambling nonsense and, unfortunately, rather highly skilled at making a fool of myself in front of a guy I'm attracted to.
Relationships: Alex/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. Circumstances Notwithstanding

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. . . Again, I seem to just keep coming up with all these different scenarios and hope one of them sticks.  
> Anyway I hope you like this fic, I will be taking many liberties when it comes to the characters so if it's nothing you expected it to be I apologize.  
> Most of the characters will be around the same age unless specified otherwise.

**ALEX**

The first time Daze Ellis saw me, my hand was wrapped around my dick.  
  
Unfortunately, I wasn’t jerking off. If that had been the case, she might have found it sexy—emphasis on the might since it isn’t a turn-on for every girl, let alone the fact that it would’ve been weird as shit to be caught masturbating in a bathroom at a party.

I wish I could tell you something you’d love to hear, something exciting, like it was love at first sight instead of an unexpected and weird dick sighting at a random college party. Or that it was a romantic setup, like we crashed into each other while running to class on campus, her books flew out of her hands so I dropped to one knee to help her out and when our heads knocked together, we looked into each other’s eyes and the rest was history.

I think you get what I mean, some kind of dreamy movie scene like that, but. . .fuck no. I know that sounds sweet, and it would melt hearts every time we told people about our first time meeting, but, again, that’s a no. On the contrary, like I said in the beginning, the first time my eyes landed on Daze Ellis and hers landed on my dick, I was in a bathroom, in the middle of taking a piss while chatting with my friend.

“And why did you want to watch me take a piss again?” I asked Shane, unsuccessfully trying to understand why I had a spectator.

The corner of his lip tipped up lazily and his gaze dropped low as I unzipped myself.

“I see it enough in the locker room, man—haven’t missed it. I was telling you about Isaac, and you’re the one who couldn’t hold it until I finished.”

I gave him a side-eyed look as he ignored me and continued.

“Man, you should’ve been there. The way Coach laid it on him after you guys left—I’m not sure he’ll come back to practice again. Hell, I’m not sure I wanna go back, and I didn’t do shit.”

He paused for a second or two. “You wanna bet a fifty on it? You think he’ll show up?”

I glanced at Shane, who was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, face turned toward the ceiling, appearing completely harmless and relaxed. As a rule, Shane was never harmless—not on the field, and especially not at a party.  
  
The way Coach had been working us on the field lately, I didn’t think any of the guys wanted to be there, at least not the ones who were sane. But, if you loved the game enough, you handled whatever it threw your way to get where you hoped to get one day. Basically, go big or go home. Always beast mode.

“Not betting. If he wants it enough, he’ll be there.”

Just as the words came out of my mouth, we heard someone open and slam the door. For a brief moment, the blasting music and shouts from the party downstairs drowned everything out. Sure, someone barging in on you wasn’t anything alarming since it would be stupid to expect any kind of privacy at a college party. But when I looked over my shoulder to see who wasn’t patient enough to wait a few minutes, I saw it was a girl hugging the door and did a double take.

“Be cool. Be cool. This is nothing. Easy peasy. I’m never making new friends again. You can do this, just open your eyes and turn around, dammit.”

The brunette still had her back to us, her head resting on the door as she muttered to herself.  
  
Frozen on the spot, Shane and I glanced at each other; he shrugged, and I watched his lips stretch into a slow, cocky smile. He looked like he had just been handed a shiny new toy. Giving me a chin lift with his distinct smirk in place, he pushed himself off the wall and headed for the poor girl.

“You can do anything you put your mind to, baby,” he said, managing to spook her thoroughly.

As soon as Shane spoke, she stopped muttering, spun around to face us, and proceeded to do a pretty damn good imitation of a deer caught in headlights.

“I. . .”

“You. . .” Shane countered when nothing else came out of her mouth.

As I was getting ready to tuck myself back into my pants, her eyes jumped between Shane and me a few times as if she suddenly found herself on the moon and didn’t know exactly how she’d made it up there. Then her eyes dropped down to my hand—which was still very much around my dick. Her gaze flew right back up to my face then dropped back to my hand again.  
  
I could tell she was fighting off a grin because her lips twitched. “Shit! Oh. . .that’s a. . .penis—your penis. Shit.” Her voice was barely audible over the muffled music as she repeated her little staring game a few more times and the color gradually drained from her already pale face.

“Do you mind?” I asked, amused by the way her eyes were getting bigger.  
  
“I didn’t. . .” She started then closed her mouth as she met my gaze. “Your penis. . .I didn’t mean to. . .your penis? I just saw your penis. I’m still seeing your penis. I’m looking straight at it, and it’s right the—”  
  
I met Shane’s amused gaze and glanced back at the girl. “Don’t tell me it’s your first sighting.” I turned around so I could tug my zipper back up and save the girl from having a full-on breakdown.  
  
There was a loud groan behind me then a thump that sounded a lot like someone repeatedly hitting their forehead against a door, it made me smile.

“I haven’t seen you around before. Freshman, I assume? You’re fascinating, little freshman. Is it my turn now?” Shane asked into the silence. “If my friend’s dick makes you stammer like that, I wanna see your reaction when you check out mine. It needs to be said: mine looks a lot more handsome than his—bigger, too—and if you’d like to give it a taste tes—”

The groan got louder and sounded more like a growl. “Don’t even finish that sentence!”  
  
I chuckled.  
  
It should be said that Shane wasn’t exactly the smoothest guy on the planet, but apparently that didn’t mean shit to college girls. He was one of those guys who attracted girls no matter what he did or said. Compared to him, I was the opposite—I tried my best not to get distracted by girls. He’d say some crazy shit to them, yet they’d still hang on to his every word. He’d say jump and they’d ask, Which bed? Him being one hell of a running back didn’t hurt his odds of getting laid regularly either.

Don’t get me wrong, I had my fair share of girls who’d have loved to get my attention, but early on—around kindergarten—I found out that I’m a one-woman kind of guy. Interestingly, that seems to be another reason girls seem to flock to my side. Trust me, this is not me being vain or pretentious, it just seems to be the way life goes when you’re a football player who has a shot at going pro. It has nothing to do with how I look; frankly, Chris, our starting quarterback, is the pretty boy on the team, not me.  
  
Football players—we’re practically catnip to college girls.

I turned on the tap to wash my hands and glanced at the girl to see her reaction. She still had her back to us, but at least she was no longer banging her head. If Shane was about to get his dick out for a show and tell, I was out of there. Whipping out dicks with my teammates for girls was where I drew the line of friendship

Sending me a quick grin and wink, Shane clasped his hands behind his back and leaned down to her ear. “Booo!”  
  
The girl flinched, turned around to face him, and did a little shuffle back when she realized he was standing a lot closer than he had been a few seconds before.  
  
“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to see any dicks at all,” she stated, and then she started to back away from him as my friend stalked his new prey.  
  
“Aww, but you’d really like mine.”  
  
When I couldn’t find anything to dry my hands with, I wiped them off on my jeans as I watched their awkward interaction until her back hit my chest and she let out a squeak.

“That’s my cue.” I glanced down and saw that her head was tilted back and up. She was watching me intently. Even from that close, it was hard to tell what color her eyes were, maybe green with hazel specks around the rims of the pupils.

Realizing I was staring into her eyes and easily seeing how panicked she was, I frowned, took a step back, and glanced at Shane.

“Ease up on her, man. Come on, let’s head out.” Before I could step away, the girl faced me, grabbed my arm, and held on tight.  
  
“No—you can’t leave,” she blurted out, surprising both Shane and I. “I’m here for you.”  
  
I raised my brows and sent Shane a confused look. He just shrugged. He was still wearing that I’m so intrigued smile on his face as he very openly checked out her ass.

“I mean, I’m not here for you,” the girl explained, and my gaze went back to her.

“But I came in here for you.” She squinted a little, her nose scrunching in the process.

“You know what I mean? You probably don’t. I followed you in here because I really need to ask you something.” Her voice rose with panic, but she kept going.

“When I say I followed you in here, I don’t mean I’m stalking you or anything like that because that’d be crazy. I don’t even know you, right?” She let out a nervous laugh, patted my arm awkwardly, and then seemed to realize she was actually touching me.

She snatched her hand back and clasped them behind her as she took a step away.

“Not that I’d stalk you if I knew you, but that’s not the point right now. I just. . .really, really need to ask you something before I make a fool of myself out there, and I thought what better way to do that than when he is alone. . .and I thought you’d be alone in here, and. . .”

I didn’t understand a thing she was saying, but before I could respond, Shane jumped in. “So, you’re sending me away, huh? And here I thought we had something special.”

She looked over her shoulder at him. “Sorry. I didn’t see you follow him in here, and I didn’t realize this was the bathroom anyway. If I’d seen you, I would’ve waited outside. I had no idea guys did that going-to-bathroom-together thing. It’s sweet that you do though.”

Her eyes met mine for a second before she quickly looked away and addressed Shane again. “It’ll just be a minute, really, then you can come back and have him all to yourself.”

He arched a brow at her but otherwise stayed quiet.

She glanced at me, and whatever she saw on my face made her wince. “Sorry, that sounded bad, didn’t it? Not that being gay is bad or anything. I shouldn’t have assumed. My friend is gay, and I know how hard it is when people say the most stupid fucking things and how much he—”

Shane laughed and shook his head. “You should stop while you’re ahead. My offer still stands if you want to come find me after you’re done with my boy here.”  
  
After that, he opened the door and left me alone with her. Crossing my arms over my chest, I relaxed against the sink.

She turned back to me, let out a long breath, and smiled nervously. “That was bad, wasn’t it?”

“The whole thing, or just the last part?” I couldn’t help myself.

I smiled back at her. I’d had some girls do crazy things to get my attention so they could get in my bed, but I didn’t think that was what was happening here.

With a grimace on her face, she shook her head, eyes dropping to the floor. “I just assumed this was your room and you would be alone and then when I came in, you had your. . .ummm. . .and then he was in here with you. . .”

She met my gaze then quickly looked away. “And your. . . thing was out, and then it all went to hell from there.”

Yeah, she was not the type who chased after football players.

Another nervous laugh and she was backing away from me toward the door.

“So, I’m sorry? And. . . thank you?”

My smile grew bigger. “For what?”

She rubbed her hands on her jeans, shook her head, and just appeared miserable as she looked anywhere but at me.

“At this point? If I’m being honest, I really don’t know. Thank you for talking to me? For not kicking me out? For letting me see your penis?”

Her eyes closed on their own and she shook her head, took a couple steps back, and lifted her hands, palms out, pausing when her back hit the door.

“I didn’t mean it like that—I wasn’t trying to see your penis or anything like that. I told you, I didn’t even know this was the bathroom. I mean, I assume it wasn’t your best moment, so why would I wanna see”—her hand gestured toward my crotch area—“your. . .that. . .but it looked like you’re a shower instead of a grower so that must be. . .good for you? Congrats? Not that you’d want a stranger to congratulate you on something like that, but you’re a football player, so maybe you like compliments?”

For a few seconds, the silence stretched between us and I was unable to hide my grin. Now that my dick wasn’t out and Shane wasn’t with us to put the moves on her, I took in her features: straight brown hair that framed her face and reached just below her shoulders, pale skin, big doe eyes that were something between hazel and green—I still hadn’t decided—slightly plumper bottom lip, flushed cheeks from what I assumed was embarrassment.

And then there were other things, like her C-cup boobs trying their best to rip through her tight t-shirt— _I did have eyes, after all_ —her hourglass figure, and great fucking legs—not too thin, not too thick, just perfect for my taste.

I made sure to look into her eyes and nowhere else as I ran my hand over my short hair. Considering where my mind was going, I didn’t think it was smart to spend more time with her in a bathroom. “You remind me of my sister,” I said, completely out of nowhere, shocking both of us.

“You’re a little shy, aren’t you?” She did remind me of Amy. When she was nervous, she talked endlessly, too, did a lot of rambling. Even though she knew she didn’t make much sense, she couldn’t stop it. Being shy was the only answer that made sense.

She laughed and seemed to sag against the door. “You seeing me as your sister doesn’t bode well for me, especially if you knew what I was trying to ask—not that you should see me as someone who you would want to or could. . .just forget about that. What made you think I was shy? Wait. Wait.” She raised her hand.

“I take that one back too. Don’t even answer that.”

Another awkward silence stole our words as I stared at her and she stared at my chest until someone pushed on the door and made her lose her balance.

A head peered through the partly open door. “Ah, sorry, dude! Didn’t know this was occupied.”

He pushed the door open a few more inches to look around inside. “We’ll come in after you two are done.” After giving me a thumbs up, he slowly disappeared.

As soon as the door closed, my brunette—scratch that, the brunette let out a deep breath and focused her gaze on me.

She appeared steadier, but based on the way she was tugging on her shirt—which had Smile for me written on it in big bold letters—I wouldn’t have bet money on it. Curious as hell, I waited for her to continue.

“You know what, I already made a mess, so at this point, asking this won’t—no, can’t make things any worse.”

Already intrigued by her, I gestured with my hand for her to go on. “I’m all ears.”

As I tried my best to hide my smile, she took another deep breath. “I need to kiss you,” she blurted out quickly.

Closing her eyes, she groaned. “That wasn’t the best way to break it to you. Let me try again.”  
  
I raised my brow. “You need to kiss me.”

“Need to, have to—I mean they’re all the same thing, right?” A quick nod. “I mean, I don’t want to kiss you, not really. I didn’t choose you.”  
  
“You didn’t choose me.”  
  
“Nope, I didn’t. It’s not that you’re not good-looking—you definitely are, in a rugged sort of way, which would work for me. I’d kiss you if I had to, but you weren’t my first choice.”  
  
“You’re doing _wonders_ for my ego. Keep going.”

“Okay, I’m thinking that really wasn’t the best way to go about this. Let me start over and see how that goes. My roommate, Abigail, kind of dragged-slash-forced me to come here tonight, to the party I mean. She thinks I’m not living the ‘college experience’ to the fullest. We came, met her friends—it’s my first year, and I’m meeting new people, so that’s good, right?” Without waiting for me to give an answer, she took a deep breath and kept going.

“Nope, not good. Her friends realized I’m not adventurous at all because I don’t tend to talk very much when I’m in a big group and prefer to just stay back. I like to take things in at first, observe, you know? I don’t like to have too many eyeballs on me. Anyway, you don’t care about that, so blah blah blah, more talk, more cringing on my part.”

She shut her eyes and shook her head. I just stood there, watching her, listening to her, waiting for her to finish her story. I couldn’t really have moved even if I wanted to, she was. . .it was all too. . . _captivating_ —that’s the word I was looking for.

She was all over the place and yet she was captivating as hell, a fresh breath of air, for some reason.

“Then they bet—kind of dared me that I couldn’t kiss a random guy. I said sure I could just so they’d stop talking about me, because what are they gonna do? Expect me to follow through on that? Are we in kindergarten? Pffttt. And, okay, fine, I was a little offended, but they were kind of right. I’m not adventurous or spontaneous. Not into kissing random guys, either. I’ve never done it, but I figured it’s easy enough. Anyway, they said I wouldn’t have the balls to kiss the guy they wanted me to kiss, because apparently that’s also a thing in college—daring, betting, kissing random people. . .”

“Wow,” I said before she could go on, and she lifted her eyes to me. It was my lame attempt to make sure she took a breath before she passed out. “There seem to be a lot of things about college I didn’t know about, and I’m not even a freshman anymore. I’ve never kissed a random girl before either—didn’t even know it was a requirement.”

I actually had, but she didn’t need to know that. I got kissed by random girls sometimes, especially after a good game when everyone’s adrenaline was running high, but I never had the urge to go kiss a random girl just because. Maybe I just hadn’t seen the right random girl because at that moment I could see the appeal.

“See!” she exclaimed, her body relaxing a bit more.

“That’s what I said. Anyway, we’re coming to the painful part, so I’ll just push forward. My roommate, Abigail, grabbed this poor guy who was walking past with his buddies and told me to kiss him, so I did, just a quick peck—that’s nothing, right? I didn’t even touch the guy, just leaned up and pressed my lips against his. It was pretty anticlimactic, actually, and since I’ve had a little bit of beer. . .”

She lifted three fingers, presumably indicating the number of beers she’d had, then tucked her hair behind her right ear.

I studied her lips, all this talk about kissing, and she had those beautiful shiny pink lips. . . “I didn’t even feel a thing,” she continued.

“No butterflies. No nothing. The guy didn’t look all that upset about it since he tried for a second, longer kiss.”

I bet he didn’t, I thought. I bet the lucky bastard wasn’t upset about it at all.

She started talking even faster, making it almost impossible to follow her thoughts.

“But then Abigail’s friend, Haley, randomly pointed at you. You were talking to some guys across the room, and she dared me to kiss you. What’s so special about you, I have no idea.” I opened my mouth, but she held up her hand and continued without a pause.

“So, I had to say I could because I’m not good with dares and bets. I get a tad bit competitive. Since I got away with just a peck with the last guy, they dared me to go full out with you. Again, I don’t know if you’re some kind of hotshot or something, but I guess there is something about you that makes you special enough for them to insist that much. Maybe you’re their type, I don’t have a freaking clue. I asked them to give me a few minutes and followed you here so I could ask your permission before I attacked you in front of everyone or at least attempted to attack you in front of everyone to basically suck your face. Now, after what I’ve seen. . .just to make sure. . .you’re not gay, are you? Because if that’s why they insisted so much. . .that’s cruel.”

When she kept looking at me expectantly, I straightened up and rubbed the back of my neck.

“This is probably gonna sound like a lie to you, but. . .” How to say this? “As much as I’d love to help you out with your dare, I have a girlfriend.”

We’d only been out once, but still. . . “She’s late getting here, but she’s probably out there now, and I think I should—”  
  
“Ah. Oh. Oh, of course. Okay.”

I watched her eyes bounce all over the place, her gaze touching me only once or twice, and even then, only for a second. Then she blindly reached for the handle, opened the door, and stepped out.

“I’m really sorry, you know,” she started, her voice slightly louder in an effort to be heard over the ruckus going on outside.

Her eyes dropped down to my pants then came back up to my eyes. “About that. . .and everything else. This whole night has been weird. . .weird and stupid. I’m just gonna leave, and. . .”

Another step away. “Yeah. Sorry,” she repeated, her eyes focused on my shoulder instead of my eyes as she kept backing away.

That’s when I realized her eyes were watering. Having a sister teaches you a thing or two about these things, and I knew this girl was seconds away from crying.

“Wait. Hey, wait!” I yelled, quickly walking after her before she could disappear.

She glanced back at me over her shoulder without stopping.

“What’s your name?” I yelled louder.

She gave me a small smile, something between sad and horrified, just as I watched that first tear slide down.

Then she was gone, disappearing into the crowd before I could reach her.

Why I wanted to know her name, why my eyes looked for her every now and then the entire night. . .but then, I didn’t know.


	2. The Re-encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daze encounters Alex unexpectedly and tries to become a magician in 10 seconds flat so she can make herself invisible, unfortunately she has zero training in magic and has to face him head on.

**DAZE**

One Year Later.

The second time Alex Luna saw me, I was trying to disappear into thin air. If we didn’t make eye contact, if I couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see me either, right?  
  
Well. . . apparently, that’s not how it works.

A year before, when I’d made a complete fool out of myself, I hadn’t even known the guy’s name, and that had made it easier to just forget about the whole thing. If he had been just a nameless guy I’d randomly come across at a college party—admittedly, a very sexy one it would’ve been fine, but no, it wasn’t.

Of course not—things were never that easy for me. The guy the mean girls from freshman year chose for me to kiss was one of the hotshots from the football team, the star wide receiver who was apparently one of the few players expected to make it into the NFL, and that made him pretty popular around campus.

Sure, it’s a big campus, but not big enough for me to avoid him _forever._

After a long day filled with classes, I was on my way to the apartment when I saw him, well, more like them. He had three of his friends with him, and I knew at least one of them was a teammate: the quarterback, Jacob Warner. Who the other two were, I had no idea. 

Jacob Warner, though. . . he was the big man on campus, as most quarterbacks always seem to be. I knew that much, and maybe a little more about him. It wasn’t as much as I’d have liked to know, but I knew a few bits. Even so, at that moment, seeing Jake didn’t even register in my mind. The person walking next to him had all my attention.

Alex Luna, all six feet three inches of him.

Laughing at something his friends were saying, he was maybe forty, forty-five feet away, coming straight toward me.

I stopped walking, just froze to watch him. Some girl bumped into me, apologized, and I couldn’t even respond. Standing paralyzed in the middle of campus, my stomach dropped, and I felt the blood drain from my face.

_No._

I didn’t want him to see me just then. I had no makeup on, and I was running on three hours of sleep. My hair was in a very, very messy braid that didn’t even really count as a braid anymore because it looked more like I’d been in a fight with an angry crow and lost, and my clothes. . .

I couldn’t even remember what the hell I was wearing and couldn’t find it in me to look down and see. More than likely, I wasn’t wearing anything spectacular, anyway. Hell, I really didn’t want him to see me again, period.

_Thirty feet._

Staring at him, I lost precious seconds I could’ve used to get away—I knew that because I’d managed to do it successfully before. That day, however, I was too dumbstruck to do anything but watch him come closer. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that had me stuck in my place, or maybe it was the way he walked, the way his shoulders moved and—  
  
 _Snap out of it!_

He still hadn’t seen me, his face tipped down, listening to his friends.

_Twenty-five feet._

I thought maybe if I just stood where I was, closed my eyes and made no quick movements, he’d walk around me and it would be over in a few seconds, yet one more of my brilliant ideas.  
  
Or better yet, maybe he wouldn’t recognize me at all. To be honest, that was a pretty strong possibility. After all, who knew how many girls threw themselves at his feet on a daily basis? Most likely, he had forgotten about that awkward girl from the bathroom at the house party—AKA me—the very next day.

_Twenty feet._

He was wearing a long-sleeved gray Henley that showed how great his arms were, and I mean great, that was one of the things I specifically remembered from that night, which might have had something to do with the fact that I was a sucker for good, strong arms, but that’s not the point. Those same arms were connected to some even greater shoulders. He had strong, masculine features. I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew they were green—to be more specific, emerald green like the forest trees. A year before, I had looked into them for several long seconds. His jawline was sharp, cheekbones strong, lips so full you couldn’t stop wondering how they would feel against your own.

_Fifteen feet._

He wasn’t pretty, I wouldn’t have used that word specifically. You might not even call him traditionally handsome, but he was certainly striking. He had charisma, confidence. He looked strong and big and maybe a little rough, too, but more than anything, he looked solid. Yes, that was one way you could describe Alex Luna. I’m not even talking about in a physical sense, though he was solid on that count too. He wasn’t a guy you could forget easily.

He lifted his head and made eye contact with me. The big smile he was sporting slowly melted off his face.

_Dead._

Just chock-full of brilliant ideas that day, I quietly gasped, spun around, and kinda started speed-walking while cursing myself, _not my best moment_ , as you can imagine. My eyes were glued to the ground, and my stomach dropped for the second time.

_Calm down, you drama queen._

“Hey! You! Wait a second! Hey!”

_No. Nope. Not doing that._

Just in case he was yelling at me—and I was pretty sure he was—I closed my eyes as hard as I could—as if that would help make me invisible—and quickened my steps, which was how I walked smack into. . .people. People, as in multiple. Of course I did. What did you expect with my luck?

I didn’t fall on my ass, and that was my only saving grace. When the group I’d run into looked at me with bulging eyes, I swallowed my hasty apology.

“What have you done?” one of them whispered before looking at the ground.

Thinking maybe they were exaggerating a bit with the whole the world just ended act, I followed his gaze and discovered that not only were my books scattered all over the place, there was also an architectural model lying on its side in the middle of the mess my stuff had made. It was not some simple cardboard thing either—oh no. It looked like it was made of wood, and it was huge. . . huge enough that there was no way one person could carry it on their own. . .hence the four-person group.

Completely forgetting why I was in this mess in the first place, I dropped to my knees and reached for the scaled structure.  
  
“I’m so sorry. Really, can I do—”

“Don’t touch it!” yelled the same guy who had spoken a second before as he slapped my hand away—actually slapped it. Surprised, I cradled it against my chest. He hadn’t hurt me or anything, but, I couldn’t even remember the last time my mom had slapped my hand away for trying to steal food from the table.

As the other guys crouched down to help their friend, I quickly glanced around to see that we had an audience. How nice. _Just perfect._ I’d always thought a red face did wonders for my complexion. The silver lining was that Alex was nowhere to be seen, and I couldn’t help but feel cold relief wash over me.

“Goddammit! You broke the door.”

“I’m so sorry,” I repeated, a little lower in volume this time, but the guys kept giving me angry looks. From what I could see, there was no real damage—other than said door, of course. When they chose to ignore me, I tried to focus on my own scattered notes and books on the ground. Thankfully, I had left my camera at the lab that day, otherwise I wasn’t sure it’d have been as lucky as the model building.

“I really hope it didn’t. . .” I noticed the guys straightening from their crouch, holding the building oh so gently between the four of them. I didn’t get to finish my sentence as I received one last death glare before they walked around me to hurry away.

Still on my knees, I sighed. What a great end to my already crappy day.  
  
“Here, don’t forget this one,” said someone to my right. I froze again, my heart picking up speed.  
  
My eyes slowly followed the big hand that was holding one of my art history books upside down, and then they kept following the long arm up to those spectacular shoulders, finally making it up to Alex’s amused gaze.

All the chitter-chatter of the passing students dulled. I closed my eyes in defeat and hung my head. So much for trying to run away.

“Hi,” he said, so simple, easy, smooth.

While my heart was doing a weird stuttering thing in my chest, I tried to get up from the ground, only to lose my balance. Alex caught my elbow and righted me before I could topple over.

“Thank you,” I murmured, looking away from his face as he let go of my arm and took a much-appreciated step back. I cleared my throat, as if that would make any difference. “Hi.”

God, I was so ashamed. Not only had I asked him if I could kiss him like a middle schooler when he had a girlfriend waiting for him outside just because I couldn’t back out of a dare, I’d also seen his penis, although seeing a penis wasn’t such a bad thing. Quite the opposite, really. I liked looking at a good penis, what girl doesn’t? But, on top of all that, now he’d seen me bulldoze some architecture majors.

How many times was I gonna make a fool out of myself in front of this guy?

“Hi,” he repeated, holding out my book again. I mumbled my thanks, grabbed it, and finally lifted my head up to see an infectious smile on his lips. It completely transformed his face. Those strong, sharp lines softened, and if he’d looked amazing before, when he smiled like that. . . it made me wanna be the reason for it, which only made him more irresistible. My own lips twitched in response, and I could feel my cheeks warm up under his piercing gaze.

“Uh, hey.”  
  
“You didn’t tell me your name,” he said, smile still going strong.  
  
I forced my gaze away from his curious one. “Oh?” Slowly turning away, I decided it was best to act like I didn’t know what he was talking about and simply started walking again.

“You remember me, right?”  
  
I felt this was a good time to start on that power walk, burn some calories, get away from people. My escape wouldn’t be that easy though—he followed me, walking backward, keeping pace, studying me.  
  
“Last year? At the end of first semester, some Greek party, don’t remember which one.” I sent him a quick, panicked look then looked away just as quickly when I realized he was studying me intently. “You know, I was in the bathroom, then you came in and asked me if—”

“Ahhh, now I remember.” _You little liar._

“Yeah. Yes, of course. Hi.” My voice came out in a croak. I laughed, a little awkwardly.

“So many parties that year, couldn’t remember at first.” Mentally, I rolled my eyes at myself. I’d been to three parties, maybe—and that was a big maybe. “How have you been?”

“I’m good—great actually, now that I finally saw you again.”

Is he making fun of me? I quickened my pace. He was right there with me.  
  
“I’m Alex,” he said when he caught on to the fact that I wasn’t gonna say anything more. “That night, I tried to catch up to you, but you disappeared on me. You were right there, and then you weren’t.”

I sent him another look. I would’ve quickened my pace yet again, but I thought it would be even more embarrassing and just plain weird if I just started actually jogging, and it’s not like he couldn’t catch up to me without even breaking a sweat anyway.  
  
I made a hybrid laughing-choking sound. “That’s me,” I said with mock cheerfulness.

“I’m there and then I’m not. I exist, but I really don’t.”

 _Awkward.Awkward.Awkward._  
  
“And, I know your name—everyone knows your name.” I stopped speaking so I could breathe for just a second. “I was a little embarrassed, as you can imagine—a lot embarrassed, actually.” If I didn’t throw up on him in the next few minutes, I knew I’d be safe.

“If I’m not embarrassed that you saw—”

I sent him a panicked look.

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about from that night either,” he continued quickly, and then he grinned. “I’m not embarrassed, just in case you were wondering.”

His penis. . . I’d had the privilege of seeing his penis, the penis I could still visualize if I closed my eyes—not that I sat around and pictured penises in my mind or anything like that. . . If I wanted to see one, I could easily ask my boyfriend to take it out for me, though I had not done so as of yet.

His tone had me glancing at him. Did he have to bring that up? Why was he even talking to me? To make me feel even worse? And where the hell were his friends? Jake?

I gave him what I hoped was something close to a smile instead of a grimace and kept quiet.

“You’re gonna tell me your name, right, Flash?” I watched him glance around then focus his gaze back on me.

“I mean, it’s crowded, and you proved you’re fast, I’ll give you that, but I’m pretty good on my feet, and this time, now that I know what to look out for, I’ll catch you, no problem.”

 _Hi Alex, meet mortification in the flesh._  
  
“Flash?” I asked, confused.  
  
He smiled. “One second you’re there, the next you’re not?”

He was repeating my words.  
  
Clearing my throat, I ignored the somersault of my heart. I had a nickname. He had given me a nickname.  
  
“It’s Daze.”  
  
There went that smile again.  
  
He tried my name on his lips. Fascinated, I watched him do it. “Daze. Hmmm. Okay then, Daze.”

A grin.

Goodie.

“I’m a little late to. . .somewhere, so. . .”

No one ever died of a few white lies.

“Still a little shy, huh?” he said quietly, his smile a little smaller now, more intimate.

I moved my bird’s nest of a braid from my left shoulder to my right, thinking that having a curtain between us wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

“I’m afraid it’s a permanent thing.”  
  
As if he knew I was trying to hide behind my hair, he chuckled. “I’ll give you this round then. I need to head back to practice anyway—can’t be late or Coach will have my ass.”  
  
I locked gazes with him and just like that forgot why the hell I would try to get away. Was I actually a little disappointed that he was leaving? How stupid of me.  
  
Look away, Daze. Don’t look at those eyes.

He lifted his hand to rub his neck and broke our eye contact. “Yeah. Okay then. It was nice running into you, Daze. Maybe we’ll do it again sometime?”

I smiled at him a little miserably but kept my mouth shut. I didn’t like lying to anyone—even a stranger—if I didn’t have to.

The whole thing, our entire interaction was torture for me, beginning to end. I’m sure you’d have felt the same way if you were watching it happen.  
  
Then Alex stopped walking next to me and I kept going. It was the end of the road for us, where our paths parted. I closed my eyes and took a long, much-needed breath to clear my mind. I was passing the small cafeteria so it smelled like bad cafeteria pizza and caffeine. My heart was still tripping over itself. Talk about shame. Why couldn’t I not be so painfully shy?

“Daze?”

I groaned loudly, and the group of students walking next to me gave me strange looks. I stopped and turned around, a tad bit curious to hear what he was going to say.

He was about ten feet away, just standing in the middle of the busy road. College life—everyone was trying to get somewhere. How come he didn’t bump into anyone and everyone just parted to go around him? His smile slowly grew bigger when he had my attention.

“How about that kiss?”

Frowning, I asked, “What about it?”

“How about we have that kiss now?”

My eyes bulged a little bit and my mouth dropped open, or maybe I choked, I’m not so sure on details. I didn’t look pretty though, I can tell you that much.

I noticed eyes on me, heard low murmurs, and my face started to flush again. Hugging my books closer as if they could protect me or stop me from heading his way, I kinda yelled back at him. “Sorry, I. . . I. . . have a boyfriend.”

“You think that would be lovely?” He took a step toward me.

_Cheeky bastard._

“I said, I have a boyfriend!” And I did. I really did have a boyfriend. His name was Daniel. Daze and Daniel—he thought it was fate. Me, not so much. He wasn’t the love of my life or anything like that, but yeah, we’d been on a few dates, and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t enjoy hearing about me kissing some random guy in the middle of campus.

Someone yelled, “Good for you!” Snickers arose from the crowd, and I flushed some more.  
  
 _God? Hello? Please, do something. Smite me. Smite me right now._

“Ah. . .got it.” Alex wasn’t yelling so much right then. He tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking in place, and I had to force myself not to drop my eyes down to what I already knew was a sizeable package. “We don’t have the best timing in the world, huh, Flash?”

What could I say? I nodded and forced a small smile on my face. Was that disappointment I was seeing in his eyes? And were those butterflies taking flight somewhere in my stomach?  
  
He started walking backward, his steps light and easy, his eyes still on me. “See you around, Daze. Third time is the charm, so maybe next time we’ll make it happen.”

I wouldn’t bet on that, I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud. I just lifted my hand and gave him a small wave.

He smiled that smile—that big, careless, oh-so-beautiful one—gave me a quick salute, and then turned around to jog away. Yup, it had been smart of me to choose not to jog—he would have totally caught up with me in no time.

The first time I’d parted ways with him, I’d done so with tears running down my face from the humiliation and shame. This time, this time I had all the smiles in the world.

* * *

**MEET THE MAIN CHARACTERS!**

**\- ALEX -**

**\- DAZE -**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading, let me know what you thought of chapter 2.


	3. Lesson Learned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex finds betrayal within his circle and has a hard time trying to move on from that but knows that if he wants the future he's worked hard for he's going to have to learn to let go.

**ALEX**

**ONE YEAR LATER**

It was ten PM on a Friday night, and I was dead on my feet, as I was almost every day. I loved it that way, lived for it.

I’d woken up at six AM as I did every morning so I could get in my first workout of the day before a quick breakfast and a team meeting. Straight from the meeting, I ran to make it to my first class. Around twelve-thirty, I usually had an hour to grab some lunch and just be a normal college student instead of an athlete. 

After lunch, depending on the day, I either had another class or went straight to get in my second workout in the weight room. After that came three hours of practice, which sometimes went an extra hour or so. After a thirty-minute break that included a smoothie and a sandwich, I’d found myself in the library trying to finish an assignment that was due the next day. On my way over there, the busy day starting to slow me down, I had texted my girlfriend, Haley, to see what the plan was for the night. Before I knew it, three hours had passed, and I still hadn’t heard back from her.

I shared a house a few minutes away from campus with four of my teammates: Kyle, Maxwell, Benji, and Rip. If they hadn’t decided to throw a last-minute party for Maxwell’s birthday, I could’ve spent my night in peace in my room with Haley, maybe watch some Netflix and fuck around in bed.

After a long day of getting ready for the season, that was usually all the energy I had left in me. But, knowing that wasn’t possible, I decided to check out Haley’s dorm room first to see if we could avoid the party altogether and chill in there instead, even though I knew it would mean she’d be pissed at me.

Unlike me, she always had an abundance of energy and time for parties, but I also knew how to convince her to stay in. As much as she loved drinking and dancing, she loved what I could do to her body even more.

We’d been dating for five months. Two months of that we’d spent apart, FaceTiming and texting non-stop over summer break, and everything seemed to be going well. She didn’t mind that I had to spend most of my time out on the field or in the gym because her own time was filled with classes, sorority meetings, and an internship. She was supportive, caring, and, well, truth be told, _she had been completely unplanned_.

My original plan had always been that I wasn’t going to date during my last year.

Focus on the game.

Sharpen your skills.

Be the best on the field.

Make the time to study.

Those were just a few of the things on my priority list, and a girlfriend wasn’t one of them. My plate was already full—actually, it was more than full. It was overflowing. With all I had going on—and I had a lot going on—I just didn’t have enough time left in the day to handle that kind of commitment. Eventually, despite my busy schedule, Haley had managed to wiggle her way into my life, and to my complete surprise, I liked having her there. Seeing her after a long, tiring day wasn’t the hardest thing, and as far as I knew, she liked being with me even more.

In the past, when I was late for one of our dates because practice ran long or couldn’t go to a party because I had to sit my ass down and study, she never complained. She gave me calm (not always) and balance (again, not always), and I tried to give her whatever I had left to give of myself at the end of the day.

To be fair, that might not sound like a lot, but she always told me I was more than enough, always said I made her happy and she couldn’t imagine being with someone else. I believed her—why wouldn’t I? She definitely didn’t mind having a boyfriend who was expected to be drafted in the top twenty, and I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t enjoy seeing her face light up with excitement and joy whenever the media talked about me.

I wasn’t exactly planning on asking her if she wanted to come with me if I did indeed manage to get drafted at the end of the year, but she had hinted rather heavily a few times that she was game to travel wherever after graduation. So, I was thinking maybe if things kept going the way they were, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to ask her.

After talking to Haley’s roommate and learning that she’d actually left for the party—hoping to find me there, I assumed—I finally left campus, mentally trying to prepare myself for the mess that was waiting for me at the house.

Surprisingly, the house didn’t seem to be as crowded as I’d feared. Instead of inviting the whole school, they just had the entire team packed into our three-story house. It was the team, the girlfriends of those players who had one, and just to balance everything out, some of the cheerleaders. So, it was still a madhouse, but on a smaller scale. I would have bet the only reason they were keeping it relatively small was their fear of Coach hearing about it.

I found Shane trying to sweet-talk his way into a girl’s pants in the kitchen. “Have you seen Haley around?” I asked as soon as I was close enough.

“Not yet. I’m sure she’s around here somewhere. Where’ve you been, man? You missed the Madden tournament.” Before I could escape, he slapped his hand on my back.

“Meet Leila before you disappear somewhere. She is the girl of my dreams. Girl of my dreams, meet my main man.”

I shook my head and watched the girl giggle into her red cup. “Hello, Alex.”

Shane pulled her back against his front and rounded his arm around her collarbone. He leaned down, ran his nose against her neck.

“Let me have a taste. Then you can tell me all about what you’re planning to do to me.”

Absentmindedly handing me her plastic cup, he proceeded to attack her lips with enthusiasm.

Leaving them alone, I checked out the living room, picking my way through couples making out in the hallway, then went down to the basement where things were moving a bit faster, and finally headed out to the backyard. She was nowhere to be found, so I sent her another text as I headed over to Jacob and a few of the other guys before I went back in the house.

“Jake? Have you seen Haley around? She’s supposed to be here, but I can’t seem to find her.”

“I just got here a few minutes ago. Have you checked inside?”

I sighed. “Yeah, not there. Didn’t see you at practice today—everything all right?” I asked when the other guys started to argue about the upcoming game.

“Yeah, I was in the weight room, left before you guys were done.” He saw the look on my face and continued, “Don’t ask. I’ll tell you about it later.”

Jacob was one of my closest friends. “Coach?” I was guessing it was another argument. Jacob was the son of Mark Warner, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time and our coach. They argued—all the time. You’d think with his dad as the head coach, he’d have things easier, but no. Jake worked just as hard as the rest of us, if not harder. We spent long, extra hours practicing together, perfecting our game.

He let out a long breath. “Yeah. We’ll talk later, okay? It’s been a long day, so I’m gonna call it a night and head home. I don’t want him on my ass. I’ll find you tomorrow.”

Before I could ask anything else, he said his goodbyes to our small group and left.

I checked my phone again: nothing from Haley. Thinking maybe she wasn’t getting the texts, I tried calling her a few times, but she never answered.

Starting to get worried, I excused myself and slowly made my way upstairs. My room was at the very end of the hallway on the second floor, and because the party had been a last-minute deal, I hadn’t locked it before I’d left that morning. As I passed the first door next to the staircase, my steps faltered. The second and third floor were always a no-go when the guys threw parties. If I hadn’t known Kyle—our best tight end—for as long as I had, I would’ve barged in and kicked everyone out. But, this was Kyle.

If the sounds coming through his door were anything to go by, it was more than likely that there was an orgy going on in there, and he was most definitely the star of that show. Which didn’t bode well for my room. An eyeful of multiple naked bodies would teach me to lock my door next time. Hesitating in front of my door, I listened for any suspicious sounds. When I couldn’t hear anything, I opened it and was relieved to find that no one had made it that far yet.

The bad news was that Haley wasn’t in there either. I called her again; no answer.

I tried her roommate, and she answered on the second ring.

“Alex?”

“Maru, Haley isn’t at my house. Has she come back there?”

“No. I told you, she said she was going to meet you at your place.”

I sat down on the edge of my bed and rubbed my temple. Just because they weren’t blasting the house with music didn’t mean people weren’t being loud to make up for it.

“She isn’t here. She knew I was planning on studying in the library after practice, so why would she even come here to look for me?”

“I’m not sure what you want me to say, Alex. She had a sorority meeting at eight and after that was over, she changed and said she was heading out to your place. That’s all I know. She probably has her phone on silent. Try again.”

I got up and started pacing back and forth in the confines of my small room.

“Look, I’ve tried ten times already and she isn’t answering. It’s not like her to ignore my texts, or any text for that matter. You know better than I do that her phone is always glued to her hand. I’m starting to get worried here.”

Maru’s long sigh reached my ears. I could picture her rolling her eyes on the other end of the line, which was basically her default when she interacted with people for longer than a minute. “Do you want me to call one of the girls and see if she doubled back there instead?”

“I’d appreciate that, Maru.”

Without saying anything else, she hung up on me. Even though the shower was calling my name, I was still worried enough that I decided to check the house again and maybe ask a few more guys if they’d seen her around. If she’d made it to the party, someone must have seen her, and if not, I was ready to go out and search for her.

As I was passing Kyle’s room, I noticed that the orgy was winding down, the moans and grunts quieter now. I tried the door and it opened.

Since I had no idea who was in there with him, I kept my eyes on the floor when I asked, “Hey Kyle, did you see Haley downstairs tonight? Her roommate said she came here.”

Even though I’d heard Kyle murmuring to someone just seconds before I opened the door, the sudden silence that came with my question had me looking up.

The last thing I remembered seeing was Haley . . .in the middle of the bed . . .between a pair of dicks—Maxwell’s and Kyle’s, to be specific—on her hands and knees. I’m sure you get the picture I was staring at.

I remember Haley screaming at us to stop. I also vaguely remember Maxwell trying to give me explanations. I must have skipped minutes in between because the next thing I knew Shane and Benjamin—our right guard—were hauling me off of Kyle.

Breathing with difficulty, I tried my best to throw them off, but they weren’t budging. “It’s okay. It’s okay and done with. Settle down!” Shane shouted in my face as he held my head in his hands and tried to catch my eyes.

Benji, a mountain of a man and another one of my close friends, was holding my arms at my back as he tried to shuffle us out of the room. Even if I could have gotten Shane out of the way, there was no way I could shake Benji. Shane was still pushing on my shoulders to stop me from going after Kyle.

“We’re just gonna get some air, okay, Alex? Take it easy, man. It’s not worth risking your future. Keep it locked down.”

Before they could pull me out, I glanced around the room. Maxwell was holding his bloody nose but otherwise was fine from what I could see. At some point, he must have put his dick back into his pants after pulling it out of Haley’s mouth, but the buttons of his jeans were hanging open, and he was still shirtless. Kyle. . . Kyle was naked and squirming on the ground, the room now filled with a different kind of a moaning.

Haley, my loving girlfriend. . .she was still kneeling on the bed, eyes big and scared, chest heaving as she clutched a jersey to her body to cover herself. Number twelve—she was holding my number . . . my jersey. She was letting them fuck her while wearing my number.

Our eyes met, and I watched her lips form my name. When she made a move to get down from the bed, I stopped trying to get to Kyle and stopped fighting my friends, who finally let me shrug them off. I strode out of the room and the house without a second glance.

“Coach, I know what you’re gonna say, and it isn’t necessary. I’m doing fine.”

“Get inside and sit your ass down.”

I did as he asked.

“Cut the crap. From what I’m seeing on the field, you’re nowhere near fine, let alone your usual self. I gave you one week and nothing changed. You’re out of time. Now, you’ll do what I tell you to do and stop acting like she was the last one on earth. Look around for God’s sake—you’ve got plenty of replacements waiting on the sidelines if that’s what you’re after.”

My hands clenched into fists as I surged up from my seat.

“You think this is about her? You think that’s why I’m having trouble focusing? She is not the one who’s affecting my game. I don’t care about that, but how can you expect me to give my all to the game when I don’t trust my teammates? They’re supposed to have my back, both on the field and off. How would—”

Coach got up from his chair, silencing me with one simple but deadly look, and came to stand in front of me.

“Okay, Alex, let’s play this your way. Tell me what you want me to do. I already talked to the whole team. You were there—you know I don’t approve. I tell you boys all the time that if you want to make it into the big leagues, you can’t let distractions into your life. You got into it with Kyle right in the middle of the weight room and punched him in the face—again—and I gave that to you without repercussions. I can’t have my boys brawling for everyone to see. What else would you like me to do? You want me to cut them from the team just because they slept with your willing girlfriend?”

I tried to cover up my flinch, but it was no use. Tired of everything, I sat back down and rested my forearms on my knees. At the end of the day, as much as his words were hitting a raw spot, he was right—there was nothing more I could do. 

Neither Kyle nor Maxwell seemed to be having a hard time on the field. Yeah, they avoided me, but it didn’t seem like it was affecting their game. Maybe I was the one who wasn’t open-minded enough. Either way, not one of them—Haley included—was worth giving up the end game. I wanted to hear my name announced on draft day.

It felt like I’d been working toward that goal my whole life. At night, in bed, after a long day of workouts, practice, and meetings on top of classes, when I closed my eyes, I could see it, could feel it in my bones. I knew I was good enough, knew if I made it to the big leagues, I’d work my ass off even harder. I’d put in the time, the sweat, the work. It was time to move on. I heard Coach let out a long sigh and focused on him.

“You’re aggressive on the field, you’re working yourself too hard, and you’re not in sync with Jacob like you usually are. You don’t even want to know how many incomplete passes I’ve counted today. You’re a mess, Alex. You know it, I know it, the whole team knows it. Do you think you can afford to be reckless this season? This is your future you’re playing with, kid, and for what? A girl you won’t even remember a month from now, much less a year from now?”

With every word out of his mouth, I could feel my shoulders tense further and further. Football was my life. I was a damn good player, the best wide receiver out there. I worked hard to earn that.

“Do you think it’s all fun and games in the NFL? You think they’ll give a shit about you throwing a temper tantrum about your teammates? The NFL is a whole new level. If you can’t settle your differences with a few of your teammates, forget about your differences and play as a team on that field in college, you should forget about the NFL. You’re good. We both know you’ll get there, but not everyone has what it takes to stay there. It won’t matter who you play for if all you do is sit on a bench because you can’t get along with your teammates for whatever reason. Unless you’re out on that field, giving it all you got—”

“Sir, with all due—”

“Shut up, Alex. Shut up and listen to me. This is it. This is your last year. Do you understand that? You either make it or you don’t. You have eyes on you. You know it’s not just the media either. You’ve had eyes on you since your second year here, and don’t forget that you were the one who chose to finish school before moving on to the big-boy league. The season starts next week. You have a shot, but you know every game counts. Don’t screw everything up, not for something stupid like this.”

“Sir, I have no intention of screwing anything up. I’m working on it. I promise the next time you see me on the field you will—”

He straightened from the desk and walked back to his seat behind it. “The next time I see you on the field, you better have your shit together. If you don’t, I’ll assume you’re itching to get benched.” Pulling out a small key from the back pocket of his jeans, he unlocked the top drawer, took out another key, and tossed it to me.

My hand shot out, and I caught it in my palm before it could connect with my face.

“I know you take part-time jobs here and there whenever you can find the time, especially during the off-season. I’m assuming you send whatever is left after your expenses to your family and you’ll do the same this year, too?”

I held the key tighter in my hand, felt the edges biting into my skin, and gave him a silent nod before he continued. 

“Then you can’t afford your own place. It’s too late to apply for campus housing, and I can’t have one of my top players sleeping on the floor at one of his teammates’ houses.” Leaning back in his seat, he gave me a long look.

“I have an apartment just off campus. I had a—it’s empty now. You’ll be staying there. I need you to get your head back in the game. We need you this season.”

And I needed to have football in my life. I wouldn’t cope well if he decided benching me was a better idea.

“I’ll have my shit together for the game.”

“That’s what I want to hear. We’re done. Now get up and get the hell out of my office. I’ll text you the address by the end of the day.”

I opened my palm and looked down at the key. I wasn’t looking for a free handout—hell, I hated the fact that I was even considering it, but I was out of options since everyone I knew had gotten their housing figured out months ago. 

I still could bunk up with a teammate or classmate, but I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t affect my game or my classes. I needed a party-free, girlfriend-free last year of college if I was going to make my and my family’s dreams come true. My decision already made, I got up to leave.

“Thanks, Coach,” I mumbled, just loud enough that he could hear me.

“Alex.”

With my hand on the door handle, I stopped and looked back at him over my shoulder.

“I don’t want Jacob knowing about this apartment or my involvement in you getting it. Sometimes when it’s too late to head back, I stay over, and his mom doesn’t know about the apartment. I want it to stay that way. Do you get me? I’ll be staying there from time to time so make sure I don’t see any of your teammates around either. I already see enough of your ugly faces to last a lifetime.”

So my coach would be my roommate for my last year, not a big deal. Truth be told, the longer I thought about it as I walked out of the building to head to my two-thirty class, the more I liked the idea. It would be just one more reason to focus on what was important and steer clear of everything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay on updates, the holiday season really takes more out of me than I remember but after Xmas things should wind down giving me plenty of time to work on my fics.  
> Thank you for reading and happy holidays!


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